Vrael: The Black Rider
by FantasyFoSho
Summary: Here lies the story of Vrael, leader of the Riders, and how I invisioned him. Vrael finds a stone in the Spine which will change his life. He will gain new friends, enemies, and powers. This is book 1. Book 2 shall be about The Fall of the Riders
1. Chapter 1: The Black Stone

Okay here it is! The first chapter! Though fairly short, please note that the chapters will get longer in time.

Please review afterwards

Thanks, Neutron4ever

Chapter 1: The Black Stone

Crouching behind a large bush, Vrael waited. For several days he had followed a herd of deer in the forests near The Spine and had gotten ahead of them.

For several hours he waited yet still, the deer did not come. He knew he could not give up now. His family was not a rich family, and they relied upon him to deliver their food.

Vrael was an exceptional hunter, learning his craft from his father who was a great hunter himself. Each week, Vrael would hunt several different animals and, after hunting bears and wolves, he now considered deer easy game. And yet, this one herd had eluded him.

For several hours he still waited, and when he accepted that they would not come, Vrael stood up and in frustration, kicked at a nearby stone.

The impact jarred his leg and he felt as if several of his toes had broken. With a curse he bent down and examined the stone, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his right foot. The stone was black which at first he considered was because of the shadows on it but after taking a closer look; he saw that the stone itself was pitch-black except for a few white veins that appeared on the side of it.

The stone was oval-shaped and remarkably smooth to the touch.

Lifting it off the ground, Vrael grunted as the weight of the stone surprised him. The stone itself was almost higher than his knee-caps when on the floor and weighed as much as a pile of bricks.

In his mind he knew that he would not be able to hunt as the weight would hinder him and—after reassuring himself that the stone was worth far more than the deer—Vrael headed back to his village, Yazuac.


	2. Chapter 2: Return to Yazuac

Well, here's Chapter 2!

Please R&R

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Chapter 2: Return to Yazuac

It took Vrael several days—3 to be exact—to reach the end of the forest. As he moved past the last few bushes and trees, he found himself at a clearing that overlooked his village, Yazuac. This particular clearing was very important to Vrael, as it was here that he would go to clear his mind of the troubles in life. When he arrived at the town's gates, the sun had just started to rise, but he knew that the villagers were already up and about, preparing to do their daily chores and jobs.

At the gate, Vrael shouted, "Oi! Halmar! It's Vrael! Let me in!"After a brief silence in which he heard the scuffling of feet and muffled voices, a voice yelled back, "Vrael! Welcome back! How fares the hunting?" Annoyed, Vrael didn't bother to answer him. "Just let me in!"

Vrael stepped back as the town's wooden gates swept outwards revealing the small wooden houses within. In the center of the city was the chapel, in which the town's villagers would gather once a week to pay homage to their God. As he stepped forward, a small group awaited them, and among them were his parents. Running to them, Vrael embraced them," Mother! Father! I missed you." Stepping back from his parents, his father straightened and said gruffly "How goes the hunt, my son?" Looking down at his feet, he explained to them how he had been unable to catch the deer but left out the part about the stone.

"You couldn't catch a single one!" said Velmar, the town fool. "Some hunter you are!" Glaring at the man Vrael started to reply with several curses but before he could, his friend Halmar, having come down from the watchtower, grabbed him in a hold from behind. Wrestling each other, Vrael finally threw Halmar to the ground. "How many times must I tell you?" he said, stepping on his friend's body,"You cannot beat me." Chuckling, he pulled his friend up and left to join his family at their house in the northern section of Yazuac.

Placing his pack on the floor beside his bed, Vrael went to do his everyday chores.  
_I couldn't have picked a worst time to return_ he thought, for he had came back at the exact same time that he was expected to do his chores. As usual, he cleaned the yard outside of their small wooden home and made sure to check if the fence surrounding their front yard was still in proper condition. Afterwards, he went off to make sure that the herbs his mother had been growing were properly looked after, and watered the plants that looked dry.

Though their family was not rich, it certainly wasn't poor either. Vrael's mother, Estrilda, was important to the town, as she was the town's herbalist and healer. While his father, Ernald, was also a hunter and a part time carpenter, making many of the furniture around their home. At midday, once his duties had been completed, Vrael went into his room and collected his sword, which his father had given to him on his 15th birthday just the year before. The blade was a claymore and meant to be handled with two hands on the hilt, which is the way he preferred to fight. Once he had made sure that the edge was sharpened, Vrael went off to the small training ground located next to the chapel. The training field was split into three different sections. The first section was used for swordsmanship or any other forms of melee combat, the second section was devoted to archery, while the third and largest section was used for mounted training and jousting tournaments when the occasion arose.

Stopping at the entrance, he met Mordred, one of the local spell casters, whose job was to stay at the entrance and block off the edges of each fighter's sword, so as to prevent them from hurting each other yet still giving them the feel of wielding an ordinary blade. Once the edge had been properly blocked off, Vrael entered the training area and joined Halmar, as it was their agreement that they were to meet each other at the training area each day at midday in order to test themselves against each other and to prove their "prowess" in battle. Walking in a circle whilst staring at each other, they both waited for the other to strike. When Halmar did not, Vrael took the initiative and lunged forward with his blade, both hands grasping the black leather bound hilt. His friend blocked the blow with his polished hand-and-a-half sword and swung the sword at his shoulder with one hand. Ducking under the blade, Vrael swept his sword upwards, so as to strike him on the chin but Halmar anticipated his move and jumped back. Panting, they acknowledged each other with a nod and both donned their feral grins.

For several minutes, they continued to spar with neither of them seeming to take control of the battle. Then Vrael made to strike at Halmar's shoulder but feinted and struck him upon the hips. With a yelp of pain, Halmar then lunged at his chest but the blade was easily parried by Vrael. Riposting, Vrael initiated a flurry of blows, gaining ground with each attack when finally, after sensing that Halmar's strength was weakening, made one final strike with all of his strength, knocking the blade out of his friends hand, sending it flying 10 yards away.

Grinning, Vrael whipped his sword up to Halmar's neck. "I've bested you yet again, my friend." Together, they left the training field while Vrael listened to Halmar create all sorts of ridiculous excuses for his defeat, such as the sun being to hot, and all sorts of unrealistic explanations. After separating, Vrael went to the butcher's shop to buy meat for dinner. Taking out the coins, he purchased a couple chickens and other meats for the week and headed home.


	3. Chapter 3: Grim Tidings

Well, here it is! My third chapter in 3 days! It maybe a little short but the next few chapters will be pretty exciting! Anyways, enough of my jibber-jabber and enjoy the chapter (hopefully).

Please R&R after your done :p

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Chapter 3: Grim Tidings

Four weeks after returning from the Spine, Vrael awoke to a seemingly normal day. Dressing himself, he then combed his unkempt hair as he prepared to do the morning's chores.

Rushing downstairs, he saw that his parents had already awoken as they greeted him from the kitchen. His mother was cooking stew while his father was busy assembling pieces of a table he was building. After greeting them, Vrael left to continue his daily routine.

At Sundown, Vrael and his family were at home eating dinner when they heard a man's voice cry, "Urgals! Urgals are coming!" Startled Vrael stood up, accidentally knocking his stew over. His parents did the same. Together they left the house and found a group of people crowding around a man who was gasping, obviously tired. Moving closer, they listened as the man spoke. "Urgals…they're here! They're less than a day away!" Immediately, a chorus of voices started to protest until a man yelled at them to stop.

Taking a deep breath, the man's faced turned grim. Slowly, he lifted his arm up to show his hand clutched around a long black arrow. "I picked this up after one of their archers shot it at me." The man said slowly. "I was walking in the woods when I saw a fire in the distance. Curious, I moved closer and stopped the moment I saw the beast's horns, but I was too late, for they had spotted me. Several of them fired arrows at me, but they hit the trees instead. This," He said, lifting the arrow up higher," Embedded itself in a tree but a few feet from where I stood."

"He's a liar!" yelled one of the villagers. "He's just trying to cause trouble in our peaceful town!"

"Calm down, Gamel, let us hear the rest of his story before we make such accusations." Said Bord; the town's smith.

Continuing, the man said "I saw the Urgals camped in a clearing near Utgard. Luckily, I had a horse with me and escaped before they took pursuit." Stepping forward, Vrael asked," How many of them are there?" The man looked at him, surprised; then said grimly, "Two-hundred at the least…" he looked down at his feet,"It was dark so I may have misjudged their number, but I am sure that there were more than a hundred of the beasts…"

Then another man stepped forward and said," Well? What should we do? We cannot sit idly while those beasts are coming closer to us every minute!"

Mordred, the town spell caster, stepped up in front of Vrael—for more people had arrived—and spoke. "I will tell you what we must do! We must fight! Let us ready the defences and show those beasts that we are _not_ to be trifled with!" several people cheered in agreement.

When the noise died down, Vrael spoke once more. "What about the woman and children? Where will they stay?"

"They will stay within the chapel, where they will be safe from the fighting." Replied Mordred

"And what if the town were to fall?" Asked Vrael, and though he hated to put the villagers down, the question was necessary.

Mordred was silent for a while, until finally saying," If the town falls, then the woman and children shall be evacuated through the back entrance of the town." Then, speaking as if he were prophesying his death, he added," As for us, we will stay. And hold off the creatures for as long as we can."

Several people protested at this but Vrael knew that if the moment were to pass, it was the only way the woman and children would be able to escape.

Brushing dirt off his robes, Mordred scratched his grey hair and said," Let us not tarry any longer. There are defences to be built, people to be protected, and weapons to be made." To the man who had brought the news, he asked," How long do you think until they get here?" The man was slow to reply. Finally he said," Tomorrow before dawn, if fate smiles on us."

"Very well." said Mordred. "Come Vrael, and let us prepare the village for battle."


	4. Chapter 4: Preparations

Chapter 4: Preparations

Turning his back to the man, Mordred spread his arms out and said to the villagers," My friends! A great evil approaches. An evil whose bloody hunger can never be satisfied, whose greed has no bounds, whose brutality is unmatched in all of Alagaesia! And it will kill us all! That is, unless we try to stop it."

He stopped to stare at the villagers, and then continued," A great host of Urgals is heading in our direction. They will be here before sundown tomorrow, so we must prepare our defences if we are to survive. Ditches must be dug, shields made, weapons handed out!"

Looking at Vrael, he said," But we cannot do it alone. People of Yazuac! If you care for your homes, your wives, your children…then help us. With your help, we can drive these creatures out of our land for good and create a land of peace for ourselves where we need not be threatened by these beasts." He stopped and gazed at the many villagers surrounding him, his grey eyes fiery. "People of Yazuac," He said, more softly.

"Without your help, we will not survive." He said lowering his voice at the final sentence.

A tumult of cheers arose from the crowd as the many villagers shouted their agreement. Vrael was impressed at how the old man caught the entire village with his speech and managed to encourage the villagers to work together on the defences, for it seemed that the whole village was now willing to fight off the Urgals.

Clasping Mordred on the shoulder he said," That was quite some speech." With a small smile, Mordred replied," I try my best."

Gazing at the villagers gathered, Mordred asked Vrael,"How many villagers are in the town? My memory fails me."

After a few seconds of deep-thought, Vrael replied, "one-thousand at the least, sir, but that includes women, children, and those too old to fight. In total, the number of fighting men we have would be around seven-hundred strong."

"Very well." said Mordred. "That will do. All except the elderly can prepare the cities defences."

Raising his hands in the air, he quieted the villagers and told them how the village was to be defended.

"A ditch would be dug inside and outside of the walls, atleast three-feet deep and would stretch all around the town. The inner ditch would be similar, stretching all around the town, except for the stairs leading into the walls. This would provide a 'double defence' for the village, slowing down the Uragals and allowing the archers to pick them off." He said.

For this task, Mordred recruited five hundred villager, with two-hundred-fifty working on each ditch.

As he was about to start on the next defence, a commotion arose at the far end of a crowd. After several minutes, three men dressed in robes pushed their way to the front, huffing and puffing along the way. The man in the middle--a middle aged man with a bald head—exclaimed," Mordred! Who gave you the right to stir up trouble in our village! Because of your pretty little speech, the entire village is leaving their duties to join your silly 'game'."

Eyeing the bald man in the face, Mordred spoke to the smaller man with anger in his voice, "It's not a game Esbereth. Did you not hear anything that I've just said? An Urgal host is approaching to attack our town! Do you expect us to sit idly while these creatures take our lands and slaughter our familes?"

The man flinched at his words, then said, "And what if this 'host' does not arrive, eh Mordred?" as he spoke, spit flew from his mouth."What will you have accomplished then?" he continued acidly."If these Urgals do not arrive as you have said, than you would have desecrated our town and forced its people to work for nothing!"

Mordred's reply came slow and threatening. Lowering his voice he said, "What if they _do _come Esbereth? What if they come and we're not prepared? What will you do then? Would you rather have our families slain than to tell them to do a couple hours of work? And if the Urgals do come when we are unprepared, we will not be able to escape, for they will surely catch us. Nor can we attempt to slow them down as we have not the weapons and armour to do so! Whether they come or not, we still need to be prepared!"

After a brief silence, Mordred did nothing but stare at Esbereth. Then softly he said, "I have but one question to ask. Will you and your companions join us? With a few more magicians at our side we will accomplish things much faster.

After a long silence in which no one talked or moved, the bald man finally spoke. "We will."

Smiling, Mordred said, "I knew you would."

Mordred then turned again to the villagers, and said, "For our next line of defence," he started.  
Looking at Vrael, he continued, "For our next line of defence…Vrael will tell you."

Vrael looked at him, mouth agape.  
_'I can't believe he just did that!' _he screamed in his head.

Turning to Mordred he whispered, "Why did you do that? How am I supposed to know what our next line of defence is?"

"My mind is old and I had run out of ideas. Whereas yours is young and is filled with ideas." Mordred said, grinning. Standing behind him, he winked, "I'm sure you'll think of something."

Taking a deep breath he turned towards the villagers, all the while thinking of any idea that could get him out of this predicament and help defend the village. He scanned his mind for an idea, recalling several stories that he had heard. One such story came to him, where a town, under attack by invaders, used wooden stakes placed at an angle to slow the invaders advance.

Taking this idea, he retold the story to the villagers and afterwards, had half of them cut trees from nearby forests and roll them into the town where they would be sharpened and placed outside of the walls.

The remainder of the villagers were to help make weapons and armour. Due to the number of people helping, the tasks were completed fairly fast though the ditch-making took extra long and progress was slow, as the ground was dray and hardened. However, with the combined efforts of the spell casters, this too was completed in due time, and by midday the defences were complete and the arms made.

Now the arduously long task of waiting had come, for the Urgals were set to arrive by dawn and it was still midday. To pass the time, Vrael and several other warriors went over to the training field to spar in preparation for the battle, and as always, Vrael and Halmar were battle partners and—as always—Vrael was once again the victor.

The sun had just begun to set when a watchman shouted, "The Urgals are here! The Urgals are here!"

The men immediately stopped fighting and ran up to the walls. In the distance, they could see a thin line of Urgals marching towards them.

Mordred then ran up to Vrael and said, "Vrael, I am putting you in charge of this portion of the wall."

"Me? Why?" he asked, shocked.

"I have seen you fight. You will make for an excellent battle commander." Replied Mordred, and with that, left to stand at the other portion of the wall.

Vrael was both pleased and afraid at the new. He did not know how to lead any group of warriors, especially those who were older than him. From the other side of the wall, Mordred gave him a reassuring look.

From around him, Vrael could sense the tension in the men. He knew that many were afraid, and for some, this was their first time wielding a weapon.

Most of the villagers stationed on the walls carried bows, along with swords and wooden shields that the carried beside them. Vrael was glad to see the wooden shields for he knew that it was his father who made them, or coordinated their making.

Vrael himself did not carry a shield for his claymore was meant to be used with both hands. Among the scattered villagers, he noticed some of them wore chain-mail as proof of their earlier fights. He could tell that these men at least knew how to wield a sword and would do anything to protect their families. Because of this, he was glad to have them by his side.

Looking behind him, he saw that the village was deserted, for the woman and children were already sent to the chapel. As the Urgals drew closer, he tensed. There seemed more than two-hundred of them! From his elevated view, he could guess that about five-hundred Urgals were now marching towards them.

The other men seemed to notice this at well and began to look at each other with worried looks. Even Mordred seemed upset.

Walking to the men, he tried to comfort them by assuring them that their families would be safe and everything would be alright. As long as the defences held, they still had a good chance of prevailing.

The next chapter is going to be exciting! Also, there will be a little surprise for the villagers…  
Try and guess what it is!


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